Arizona is the sixth-largest state by land area, but less than half of that land is even owned by the United States.
A World Population Review study identifies the largest private landowners in each state. While 28.1 million acres of Arizona land are federally owned, the rest of the state's landmass is not federally owned for a multitude of reasons, whether the land is privately owned, held by state land trusts or is tribal land.
Babbitt Ranches has the largest privately owned plot of land, securing around 700,000 acres in northern Arizona.
The 139-year-old ranch raises grass-fed livestock, preserves land and breeds horses. While owning a significant amount of land, the ranch is committed to conservation and science-led efforts to manage the land while also tending to it, according to its website.
While Babbitt Ranch's main efforts lie in agricultural business, the ranch also promotes recreational use of the land by providing trail access through parts of the privately owned ranch, in what it calls an "Outdoor Recreation Ethic Attitude."
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Who owns Babbitt Ranches?
Babbitt Ranches started as a family business in 1886 when five brothers from Cincinnati bought land in Flagstaff to start a cattle ranch.
Three of the five brothers married the daughters of a wealthy German-American businessman, which set them up to maintain and expand their business into the ranching conglomerate it is today.
In this fall 2025 file photo, Joan Meiners, the Arizona Republic’s climate reporter, rides with Laurel Major of Flagstaff south through Babbitt Ranch toward the San Francisco peaks on the Arizona Trail.
Maintaining its roots in family, Babbitt Ranches is led by Billy Cordasco, president and manager of the ranch, as well as a descendant of the original Babbitt Brothers.
The Babbitt Brothers' early contributions to Flagstaff are also honored through the Babbitt Brothers Foundation as well as the historic Babbitt Brothers Building on Aspen Avenue and San Francisco Street in Flagstaff, which was originally built in 1888 as a department store for the town.
How many acres of land are in Arizona?
Arizona covers around 72 million acres, from northern snowy pines to southern cactus-filled deserts.
Federal land accounts for 28.1 million acres, according to World Population Review data. The rest of the state's landmass is owned by private owners like Babbitt Ranch, state land trusts and tribal lands.
Tribal land and state land trusts account for a lot of Arizona land that isn't federally owned. According to the Arizona State Land Department, more than 9 million acres are dedicated to state land trusts, which generate revenue for public services.
Tribal land makes up even more of Arizona's landmass, containing a little over 27 million acres across the state, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.
